


Brush strokes.

by CeriseWasTaken



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Gen, No real spoilers in there! Only my love for Edelgard von Hresvelg, Please for the love of god respect her., Post-Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), She's such a good character. Finally a morally grey female lord in FE.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 19:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20377027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeriseWasTaken/pseuds/CeriseWasTaken
Summary: "Edelgard looks at her work and hums. She had always been better at painting still life, but the result was still satisfactory. She stretches her arms out, removing the knots in her back, a reminder that she had spent quite a long time hunched over her canvas."A work about Edelgard's feelings through her journey, viewed through the lens of her artwork.





	1. Guiding light

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: pre-timeskip  
Chapter 2: during the five year gap  
Chapter 3: post-timeskip, before the final confrontation.
> 
> The work itself doesn't contain much spoilers, so it should be safe to read provided you've reached timeskip in game. Enjoy!

With quick brush strokes, the orange rays of a rising sun come to life. They frame a woman’s head, her blue hair unkempt and a stoic look on her face, but the slightest hint of a smile adds a little softness to her expression. While the colors are a beautiful blend, the traits composing the focal subject leave a little to be desired.

Edelgard looks at her work and hums. She had always been better at painting still life, but the result was still satisfactory. She stretches her arms out, removing the knots in her back, a reminder that she had spent quite a long time hunched over her canvas. It was a miracle that no one had disturbed her peace for so long. With a sigh, tension leaves her body. She looks out of her window, gazing at the sun slowly setting over the peak of the Cathedral. She knew Hubert would inevitably come knocking with an important message, sooner rather than later. _Lady Edelgard, we have matters to discuss_—she could hear him clear as day.

She laughs at her mind’s accurate representation of her vassal, something she wouldn’t do were she in another’s presence. At least, that’s how the Edelgard liked to appear. Only a few months ago, she enrolled at the Officer’s Academy and met Byleth, the professor assigned to the Black Eagles house. There was something about her that allowed the young woman to feel at ease. Was it the way she barely showed any emotion, or was it her sarcastic sense of humor? Whichever it was, her continued support allowed the Adrestian princess to stay true to her path. A path that would be difficult to walk alone, but one she chose for herself a few years back.

Her gaze turns back to the canvas, to the sun and the bright blue eyes and the slightly curved lips. With all her heart, Edelgard hopes her professor will rally to her cause. Byleth is the companion she needs on a path paved with thorns, where one misstep could leave you tumbling at the bottom of a ravine.

_My teacher, do not let me lose myself._


	2. Discarded

The brush travels slowly on the canvas, leaving a trail of pale blue in its wake. A frustrated huff. The colors are wrong: they lacked the green hue that characterized Byleth’s hair ever since the events that transpired at the Sealed Forest. Edelgard mixes some green within the blue, hoping to fix her mistake, but her work is in vain. The background lacks the sharpness and details that she used to be proud of and her old teacher’s face looks like a mess.

The emperor’s attempts at painting have been unsuccessful ever since that day, five years ago. The Battle of Garreg Mach, while a tactical success, had taken much from the Adrestian empire. Not only were some of its elite troops killed trying to take the academy-turned-fort, but her professor, a prized ally, disappeared after the archbishop’s retaliation.

The army had taken a hard hit, and so did Edelgard.

Not a day passed where she didn’t think of the lives lost at war. Fighting for or against her ideals, she mourned the victims nonetheless. Despite this, she held her head high and looked forward. She had to be steadfast—the weight of Fódlan’s future rested on her shoulders alone, after all. And for a short time, she truly believed another person could alleviate this impossible burden of hers. A confidant, someone whose infallible support would prevent her from bending, cracking, snapping. A person that had been taken away from her.

Edelgard wonders if Byleth will show up one day, cracking a joke about having been asleep for the past years. That thought only brings tears to her eyes. How could she not feel responsible for what happened to her, to all of them? She inhales, wiping the mist from her eyes before it can run down her cheeks. She mustn’t let herself be weighed down by such feelings. The emperor picks up her failed work and puts it in a corner of her room.

She would try again later.


	3. The future

While it isn’t perfect, it is the best piece Edelgard has painted yet—and by far. A masterful blend of colors brings life to the work: light and shadow mix through a forest’s trees, bringing focus to the two figures drinking tea at a wooden table. Byleth is the usual, her teal hair as messy as usual, a teasing smile on her face. For the first time, the centerpiece of the work is Edelgard herself. Her expression radiant, she’s holding her cup without drinking from it—she’s in the middle of laughing, probably at one of her teacher’s sardonic jokes.

Edelgard smiles. It felt great to finally be able to complete a work, one she was proud of, after such a long time lacking the time to. Hubert had convinced her to take a day off in preparation for their final confrontation with the Kingdom and the Knights of Seiros. It would do no good for them if she was exhausted before battle. The emperor decided to spend her day painting and winding down.

After thinking about it in the morning over a cup of tea, Edelgard settled on the scene she wished to portray. It was to be focused on a happy future, one in which anyone, no matter the circumstances of their birth, deserved to laugh, be happy, and befriend others. Even El, the tortured girl whose tears had dried up long ago, who chose the path of revolution over one of content nobility. For the first time, she felt like the future she had walked toward for the majority of her life had a place for her.

Edelgard stretches and gets up. She doesn’t regret spending the day like this. With how proud she is of the result… she wants to show her painting to the others. The emperor has difficulty hiding the smile from her face as she leaves her room to find her former classmates, strewn about Garreg Mach monastery.

_We will walk forward—together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I love my Emperor!  
I tried to show her growth and emotional turmoil through the paintings she did through the fic. Hopefully it came out well :) Also the chapter titles for 1 and 3 are the titles of her works. The one in chapter 2 was never given a name, as she eventually threw it out.
> 
> [Slight spoilers for Edelgard's backstory]  
I headcanon that Edelgard honed her art skills while in the Kingdom. Lacking healthy contact with other people, she had to find ways to cope while in recovery periods from the experiments they were conducting on her. That's why she would have learned how to draw her environment more than people.


End file.
